"It's not news that had delighted the rest of the locker room," Murray discusses his collaboration with Mauresmo and sexism in tennis
Now retired, Andy Murray has been one of the standout tennis players over the past twenty years. A champion with an exceptional mindset, the former world number 1 was known both for his extraordinary resilience on the court and for the many titles he won (46 in total in singles between 2006 and 2019).
Throughout his career, Murray has fought for women's rights in sports, particularly in tennis. He also worked for several years with Amélie Mauresmo (between 2014 and 2016).
Recently, he revisited an episode that had drawn a lot of attention when he was still playing. In a press conference, he corrected a journalist who made comments about American tennis no longer shining in major tournaments, at least on the men's side.
Murray, who had just lost in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2017 against Sam Querrey, was asked about Querrey being the first American player (in the men's draw) to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam since 2009.
Before the question was even finished, the three-time Grand Slam winner interrupted by saying "Male player," referring notably to a lack of recognition for the women's draw since Serena Williams, for instance, was still performing exceptionally in Grand Slams on the women's side.
"The journalist had asked me a question about American tennis being in a tougher period. This was in 2017. If you looked at what had happened in the last fifteen, twenty years at that time, Serena Williams had won more Grand Slams than anyone.
We were probably in the greatest period in the history of American women's tennis, but it was as if all that had already been forgotten. At that moment, I responded purely on instinct," he assured, before discussing the sexism in the world of tennis that Murray has long fought against in his career.
"I never really thought about it until I hired a woman as a coach, namely Amélie (Mauresmo). It's not news that had delighted the rest of the locker room and my team at the time.
It's fascinating because she had been ranked world number 1 and had won several Grand Slams. I think if it had been a former male player, everyone would have said it would be a fantastic partnership, but instead, it provoked the opposite reaction.
I asked my mother questions about this because we never had such conversations before. She told me she also had several issues being a female coach in sports for a long time.
From that point, it was easier for me to identify achievements by female athletes that had been ignored or simply forgotten. That's why I was able to correct journalists a bit more when they made mistakes," the Scot explained to GQ Magazine.
Note this is never discussed when the topic of Mauresmo coaching Andy is brought up.
Sexism exists in many forms, not being held accountable for your poor coaching performance because you are a woman is one of them.